Please tell us which country and city you'd like to see the weather in.

Datong

Datong (Chinese:大同; pinyin:Dàtóng; Wade–Giles:Ta-t'ung) is a prefecture-level city in northern Shanxi province, People's Republic of China, located in a basin at an elevation of 1,040 metres (3,410ft) and bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and west and Hebei to the east. It had a population of 3,318,057 at the 2010 census of whom 1,629,035 lived in the built up area made of 3 out of 4 urban districts, namely Chengqu, Kuangqu and Nanjiao District.

History

Datong was close to the Beidi kingdom of Tai, which was conquered by the Zhou dynasty in 457 BC. It bordered on the Hu nomads and traded in horses. Tai was later a commandery or county.

The town was founded as Píngchéng (平城) in 200 BC during the Han dynasty, after the Battle of Baideng between the Han and the Xiongnu. Located near the Great Wall Pass to Inner Mongolia, it blossomed during the following period and became a stop-off point for camel caravans moving from China into Mongolia and beyond. It was sacked at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. Pingcheng became the capital of Northern Wei from 398 AD until 494 AD. The well-known Yungang Grottoes were constructed during the later part of this period (460–494 AD).

Datong (instrument)

The datong (大筒) is a bowed string instrument in the huqin family, and is used as an accompanying instrument in the huaguxi opera tradition of Hunan, China. Referring to this role, the instrument is also referred to huagu datong (花鼓大筒).

Traditionally the datong was constructed with a bamboo body, and covered on the playing end with snakeskin. Its neck is made of hardwood. Silk strings were used in the past, but most contemporary players use steel strings.

The datong is held upright on the lap when played.

The datong should not be confused with the datongxian (also called daguangxian), another type of Chinese fiddle that is used in Taiwan and Fujian.